The Extra-curricular School
The academic year of Dorothy Stringer school is marked by a series of extracurricular activities and events.
| Name | Approximate Date | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Prize Giving | Thursday in late November | Academic and extracurricular prizes are awarded to pupils for work and performance in the previous year. This occasion sees the presentation of around 120 prizes, including those for (i) attainment and effort in the lower school, (ii) subject-specific attainment in the upper school and (iii) prizes for contributions to music, drama, the environmental projects and other activities. Many of these prizes are named after prestigious former members of staff. The formal evening also includes speeches delivered by the Head Boy and Head Girl and a guest speaker, who was the The Guardian cartoonist Steve Bell in 2007. The choir and orchestra, and increasingly, other groups such as Vox, the Jazz Band and soloists perform. |
| Carol Service | Last Thursday of term, in December | Taking place in St Peter's Church this traditional Festival of Nine Lessons and Carols brings together a large school choir of up to 150 pupils and a congregation of some 200-300. Michael Maine has played the organ for this service for many years. |
| School Play | Four nights, beginning on the first Wednesday in February | Performed on four consecutive nights, with the dress rehearsal on the Tuesday and the technical rehearsal on the Monday, the large whole-school event includes the contributions of many pupils, ranging from 70 to 150, depending on the type of show, musical or play. Past performances have included Godspell by John-Michael Tebelak (performed 2003), Anything Goes by Cole Porter (2004), The Burial at Thebes by Seamus Heaney which is based on the Sophocles' Antigone (2005), Oliver! by Lionel Bart (2006) and an adaptation of William Golding's Lord of the Flies (2007). 2008 saw a highly moving performance of Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet. The marveslously maniacal Little Shop of Horrors was the musical of 2009 and a stunning rendition of Bertolt Brecht's Caucasian Chalk Circle was cancelled in February this year. An alternation each year between a musical and a play is the expected system. The year of 2011, Dorothy Stringer will be hosting "Grease. This year the school will be staging a production of Spring Awakening |
| Spring Concert | Spring term | This evening event used to feature the Second Orchestra and the Junior Choir, made up of year 7 pupils. Today, it has transformed into a celebrated opportunity for other musical styles to perform. Vox, the a cappella singing group and the Jazz Band now regularly perform severall items, alsongside the orchestra and GCSE pupils playing their own compositions. |
| Dance Show | Two consecutive days including a Wednesday in the early summer term | This is the occasion on which many different groups perform dance routines practised over the previous year. Groups vary in size from two to over twenty-five. |
| Summer Concert | Summer term | This is the final occasion in the school year on which the choir and orchestra perform. This event is particularly significant for year 11 pupils, many of whom joined the musical groups when they entered the school, because soon after this final concert, they leave school to concentrate on revising for their GCSE examinations. |
| Sports Day | Friday of third to last week of term | Taking place at the local Withdean Stadium pupils from years 7, 8 and 9 spend the entire morning competing in track and field events and considerable prestige is attached to the winning form class. The commentary has become an institution in itself. |
| Activities Week(s) | Penultimate week of term | This week has traditionally been set aside for time to take pupils out of lessons and on a variety of activities. These include school orchestra trips abroad (such as to Prague in 2003), environmental trips abroad (such as to Le Havre in 2004), business trips abroad (also to Le Havre) trips to Dolawen in north-west Wales, and other, smaller excursions. |
| DiSH and Yearbook | Half-termly and annually | In 2006, Dorothy Stringer completely changed the format, layout and approach taken to the monthly newsletter. This was relocated to a new, dedicated office and an emphasis on student involvement led to the establishment of a permanent (annual) student writing team. The newsletter (renamed DiSH) seeks to be relevant and interesting to the students of the school, and the balance of content has shifted away from academic department news towards a magazine that is opinionated, nationalist and in which pictures are integral. Partly flowing from this change, in 2007 the school followed the lead of many other education establishments and created their first official Yearbook. This included photos of the current Year 11 students from the time when they entered the school and a written and photographic record of trips and awards that the departing students had made and gained. |
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